Mr BURTON moved that the last report of the committee on privileges and elections be taken up, read and concurred in; which motion he afterwards withdrew.

Col. WARD presented a memorial, in the form of a written argument; which at his request was read, and is follows; to wit:

NASHVILLE, July 1st, 1834.

To the Honorable the President and Delegates

in Convention assembled:

Your memorialist has seen and read the second report of the Committee on privileges and elections, in relation to the contested election between Col. Alexander and himself.

From said report it appears, that said committee have concluded to recommend to the Convention, "that said election be declared void, and that it be submitted to the people of Shelby county for their reaction upon it, in committee of the whole county." The report further says, "that it is probable that it will save a long, tedious, and expensive investigation before the house-that it is probable that neither party would be satisfied with the determination against him—that the whole matter would be reopened before the House for investigation that it would consume considerable time in the whole body, and that they do not believe the house could arrive at any just conclusion.” That your honorable body may be enabled to pursue that course, which will be most in accordance with the law and testimony, in reference to the parties concerned, and to end most speedily this contest, your memorialist begs leave to dissent from the last report of the committee upon the subject, and ask the same to be laid upon the table, until all the testimony and certificates furnished to the committee, and all the correspondence between the parties and the committee, and the first report of the committee, which was withdrawn for consideration and his memorial or address, marked A, containing objections to said first report, and the notes and agreements of the parties, and one or more notes from your memorialist to the committee, and said last report be read to the whole house, the reading of which altogether, your memorialist believes would conduce to the adjustment of this contest.

Your memorialist would then ask the house to recommit the subject to the committee with instructions to receive and take said memorial or letter A as the rule and basis of their construction of the evidence adduced, and of the certificates submitted, and that said committee report thereon. If this instruction should be refused and the house should conclude it to be its duty to refer the election to the people, for further action, I then pledge myself to your honorable body, that to avoid the long, tedious, and expensive investigation, from which, when made, the committee say "that they do not believe the house could arrive at any correct conclusion," to avoid the strife and contentions which an election would necessarily produce among the citizens

of Shelby county, in the present divided state of their feelings, and above all, from a conviction of judgment, that I could not, if elected, take a seat in the Convention as late as five or six days after the contemplated election, with any hope of rendering much, if any, service to my country-I will, under these circumstances and for these reasons, withdraw myself from the contest and recommend to the Convention to continue to Col. Alexander the privileges of his seat, as the returned member from and for Shelby county. I cannot reconcile it for a moment to my feelings, that Shelby county should be unrepresented in the Convention one hour, to avoid this I made no objection to Col. Alexander taking his seat as the returned member, at the commencement of the session of this Convention.

What effect this course may have in the ultimate decision of this contest, will be known to every member of this Convention, by himself and himself alone, for each member must decide for himself how far he may be influenced by feelings of personal respect, that have been generated and strengthened by long and intimate associations, that our feelings and actions are and will be affected in this way, even when we are unaware of it, must be obvious to every man who is well acquainted with himself. But I rely upon the honesty and intelligence of this Convention for a decision, uninfluenced by any personal considerations other than such as humanity cannot avoid.

With proper respect, your ob't servant,

EDWARD WARD.

Mr BLOUNT moved that the first report made by the Committee on privileges and elections, and withdrawn by said Committee, be taken up and read, which motion he afterwards withdrew.

Mr. HUNTSMAN moved that the exhibits accompanying the last report of said Committee be taken up and read; and said motion prevailing, the exhibits were taken up and read.

Mr. BLOUNT renewed his motion to take up and read the first report of said Committee; which motion prevailed, and said report was accordingly read.

Mr. FOGG called for the reading of the protest of Col. Ward, which had been submitted to the Committee on privileges and elections; which was read.

Mr CAHAL moved that all the evidence in relation to the contested election between Cols. Alexander and Ward be printed for the use of the members of the Convention; upon which motion no order was taken.

Mr. HUNTSMAN moved to lay the certificates, &c. on the table, and that the parties have liberty to separate and classify them: Which motion he afterwards withdrew.

Mr Fogg moved that all the documents relating to said contested election, be laid on the table until Thursday morning next; and that the contesting parties be requested to separate and classify the certificates belonging thereto; which motion, at the request of Mr. Allen, he withdrew.

Mr ALLEN submitted the following.

Whereas, the Committee on privileges and elections, whose province it is to determine in the first instance all contested elections, cannot determine which of said parties is elected, on evidence apart from the Sheriff's certificate. And whereas said Alexander has said certificate, without imputation of fraud. And whereas the original report recognized the election of said Alexander. Now to settle the same, as both parties pray for an early determination :

Resolved, That Adam R. Alexander the sitting member is entitled to a seat in this House.

Mr Fogg renewed his motion to lay on the table:

Mr PORTER moved to amend Mr. Fogg's motion by striking out Thursday and inserting Wednesday; which was accepted by Mr Fogg. And then the Convention adjourned.

WEDNESDAY, JULY 2, 1834.

The Convention met according to adjournment and was opened with prayer, by the Rev. Mr. HATTON of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church.

Mr CHILDRESS submitted the following:

Resolved, That the action of this Convention be had in the case of the contested election between Cols. Edward Ward and Adam R. Alexander, without discussion on the part of the members; that after hearing and examining the evidence, and hearing what each of the contending gentlemen may have to say thereon, the same close.

Mr CHILDRESS moved a suspension of the rule requiring resolutions to lie on the table one day-which motion, at the request of Mr. Garrett, he afterwards withdrew.

On motion of Mr WEAKLEY, the Convention again resolved itself into Committee of the Whole, Mr Cannon in the chair, upon the existing Constitution and the various resolutions to them referred proposing amendments thereto; and after some time spent in the consideration thereof, the committee rose, reported progress, asked and obtained leave to sit again.

On motion of Mr. CHILDRESS, his resolution submitted to-day was taken up and the rule suspended; and on his further motion said resolution was ordered to the table.

On motion of Mr. GARRETT, the contested election between Cols. Alexander and Ward was taken up.

On motion of Mr. ALLEN, his resolution submitted yesterday was taken up and read.

The memorialist was then heard at length on the floor in support of his claim to a seat for Shelby county; to which the sitting member was heard at length in reply.

Mr. GARRETT submitted the following resolutions as an amendment of the resolution of Mr Allen, and in lieu of the resolution presented by the report of the committee on privileges and elections, to wit:

Whereas, it seems that in the contested election between Col. Edward Ward and Col. Adam R. Alexander, there is no testimony produced of a legal character, which can be received by this Convention as such, unless it is presented by the agreement of the parties, waiving all exceptions to illegality, and whereas the parties have not submitted such agreement as the Convention are satisfied with, but disagree as to the terms of some of the agreements that the committee appointed by this Convention had supposed the parties entered into; therefore,

Resolved, That this Convention cannot receive any of the testimony produced in this case as legal, unless the parties will come to an agreement as to the whole of the disputed points, in regard to said testimony.

Resolved, That Adam R. Alexander, the sitting member from Shelby county, retain his seat until evidence of a purely legal character be adduced to the Convention, to show that he is not entitled to his seat, or until the parties make an agreement by which the present testimony shall be received; and which agreement shall cover all points of controversy between them, as to the extent of said agreement, and particularly in relation to those points which they, the said parties, were requested by the committee to agree upon, in order to legalize the testimony heretofore taken.

Mr CAHAL moved that the certificates and evidence submitted to the committee be read: which motion he afterwards withdrew.

Mr BURTON withdrew his motion made yesterday, to concur with the report of the committee on privileges and elections.

Mr. JOHN A. MCKINNEY moved to lay all the papers and reports relative to said contested election, on the table; which motion he afterwards withdrew.

On motion of Mr FULTON, the agreement of the parties in relation to taking evidence, was taken up and read.

On motion of Mr PORTER, the letters from the chairman of the committee on privileges and elections, to the parties, and their respective answers thereto, were taken up and severally read.

Mr. CARTER moved, that a select Committee of three be raised on the contested election between Col. Ward and Col. Alexander, to whom shall be referred all the documents, testimony and papers relative to said contested election, with instructions to inquire, whether the agreement made by and between said Ward and Alexander, with regard to the admissibility of the testimony taken and produced in said contest is sufficiently obligatory on the parties to legalize the informal testimony thus taken; and to report to this Convention. Which motion prevailed,

The President appointed Messrs. Fogg, Fulton and White to be of said Committee.

And then the Convention adjourned.

THURSDAY, JULY 3, 1834.

The Convention met according to adjournment, and was opened with prayer, by the Rev. Mr HATTON of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church.

Mr LEDBETTER submitted the following:

Resolved, That the Convention will not sit on to-morrow (the 4th July) to do business.

Mr LEDBETTER moved a suspension of the rule requiring resoluions to lie one day on the table; which motion prevailed.

Mr M'GAUGHEY moved to lay said resolution on the table;

Which motion was decided in the negative.

The question then recurred on the adoption of said resolution, which was decided in the affirmative-ayes 35; noes 22.

The ayes and noes being demanded by Mr Armstrong,

The affirmative voters are,

Messrs Allen, Alexander, Burton, Blount, Cannon, Childress, Cheatham, Cross, Douglass, Fulton, Fogg, Garrett, Gillespy, Hodges, Huntsman, Humphreys, Hess, Kincannon, Kincaid, Kimbrough, Ledbetter, Loving, Mabry, Montgomery, Marr, Nelson, Purdy, Richardson, Ridley, Ury, Whitson, Walton, White, Webster and Weakley-35. The negative voters are,

Messrs President, Armstrong, Bradshaw, Cobbs, Gray, Hill, Kelly, Kendall, McClellan, Robert J. M'Kinney, John A. M'Kinney, M'Gaughey, Neal, Porter, Roadman, Robertson, Stephenson, Senter, Smith, Smartt, Sharp and Scott-22.

Mr FOGG, from the Select Committee appointed on yesterday on the contested election from Shelby county, submitted the following

REPORT.

The Committee to whom were referred the papers upon the contested election between Col. Ward and Col. Alexander, with regard to the admissibility of the testimony taken and produced in said contest, is sufficiently obligatory on the parties, to legalize the informal testimony; respectfully report to the Convention:-that they have had the subject referred to them under consideration, and have examined all the papers necessary to enable them to form an opinion. A case of contested election between two individuals for a public office, is similar to other cases at law, so far as regards the rules of evidence, and the same rules of evidence that would be legal in an action for money had and received for the fees of an office, in a suit at law, to try a title to that office, would be also binding in the case of a contested election. It is a suit between two individuals for a public office, and the question to be decided by the proper forum, is, for whom did a majority or plurality of the qualified electors give their votes? It is a case of more than ordinary interest, in which the people have a great